Tigers' season gets under way

The Connecticut Tigers may not get any rehab assignments from Detroit like the old Norwich Navigators and Connecticut Defenders did from the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, but they finally have some young players to talk about.

NORWICH — The Connecticut Tigers may not get any rehab assignments from Detroit like the old Norwich Navigators and Connecticut Defenders did from the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, but they finally have some young players to talk about.

“I like this level, I like working with the new kids out of the college draft, they came to get better and like to listen,” Connecticut manager Andrew Graham said. “It’s exciting to be able to talk to these college guys first in professional baseball and help them learn how to play the game professionally and not the college way.”

For the first time this year, Graham, in his third year with the Tigers, will have some true college talent to work with. The Detroit Tigers have already sent their top draft pick, pitcher Jonathan Crawford from the University of Florida, to Norwich. There are rumors that right-handed pitcher Corey Knebel (competitive balance round A) and lefty Kevin Ziomek (Detroit’s second-round pick) could also find their way to Dodd Stadium before the summer is out, depending on if and when they sign a contract with the parent club.

But what the Connecticut Tigers are truly hopeful for is that the somewhat recognizable names, or just status of these players, translates to people in the seats. That’s the true test that begins at 7:05 p.m. tonight when the Tigers host the Lowell Spinners, the New York-Penn League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, in the season-opener for both at Dodd Stadium.

“You talk to any player about any ballpark and the ballpark they like the best are where the crowds are,” Graham said. “The entertainment, the excitement, the loudness, brings out the best in everyone’s game. I’m seeing a difference over the last two years in Connecticut. Each year it has got better and I’ve talked to (general manager) C.J.(Knudsen) and they already have made more ticket sales than last year. I’m excited to see some crowds and I hope we can win a lot of games and get some packed crowds here.”

Verlander got his first look at the field on Friday. He expected to make the trip to Connecticut ever since he signed with Detroit out of Old Dominion, but didn’t know what to expect. So, when he received his assignment, he went online to see what he was getting into.

“You don’t get a true idea of what it is online, although it looked beautiful and when I walked out here, to be able to call this place home for a little while is something I’m looking forward to,” Verlander said.

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Even if Dodd Stadium is not a hitter’s park.

But there is an advantage to that as well for young players: the day of the walk-off, three-run homer is becoming a thing of the past in the Major Leagues. Although power is valued in the post-steroid era, it’s also scarce, and teams are beginning to realize the value of speed and bat control again, both of which are valuable assets at a stadium like Dodd.

“The first thing I noticed is that it’s not a hitter’s park,” Verlander said. “You walk out and the first thing you say is that this place is huge, but to some degree, that’s a great thing. You’re not going to go out and try to swing for the fences, you’re going to try and hit line drives and balls to the gaps are doubles and triples. Everybody in the organization knows this place is huge, so they’re not looking for big power numbers.”

That’s also a good thing for Schotts, who was sent, believe it or not, to Norwich from Western Michigan (where he hit .192 in 59 games this season) to restore his confidence. The outfielder, who will start in center for Connecticut, considers himself more of an average over power-type of hitter anyway.

“They’re going to work with some stuff offensively with me — they were going to do that in (the fall) instructional league but wanted to speed up the process — and moved me down here to work on some stuff right now,” Schotts said.

Graham considers the strength of the team to be the pitching staff although his utilization of them will likely be limited.

“We have a lot of arms, but they have thrown a lot of innings (in college),” Graham said. “We will have a lot of starters with short spans, three or four innings max, and we have a lot of bullpen arms to account for that.”